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Monday, 26 November 2012

Despite not posting much recently, I have been busy with sewing in little bits of snatched time. Did you read Tilly's recent post about sewing in fifteen minute segments. I feverishly commented that this was my sewing existence with Rocket Girl on the scene. Here's what those fifteen minutes have been adding up to. I am making some bibs for RG and some for my friend's son's Christmas present.

I have almost finished my winter skirt. Just the lining left to hem now. My proposed autumn sewing plans were cast aside when I bought a length of floral cordory in the charity shop. At £2.50 I had to buy it. After much consideration of skirt patterns, looking at some Ottobre ones, I went back to the tried and trusted Sew U skirt from the first Built by Wendy book and used her slant patch pockets to make two front pockets. The Built by Wendy knits book has come in for a lot of new attention recently in the sewing blogosphere but I am going to put in some love for the first Sew U book which has trouser, shirt/blouse and skirt blocks and such very, very useful pocket pattern pieces. Those pocket pieces enable me to create my own skirts with details I like. Plus sewing in short bursts means I cannot really try out new patterns - that just seems too scary.

Polka dot lined pocket

I had enough cordory to make Little I a skirt. It is a bit more exciting than mine, featuring ruching, lace trim, ric rac, oversized shiny buttons and a polka dot underskirt. Can you bear the dotty, shiny, ruch-y (is that a word?) excitement? Oh, to be five years old. It is nearly finished and deserves a post of its own.

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

The elderly lady who used to babysit me and my siblings taught me to crochet. She also always had a ready supply of chocolate. Then I learnt more crochet in girl guides. It was the only useful thing I learnt in guides.

After the teddies reignited my knitting I was sorting through my bag of odd balls of yarn and found my old crochet hook. A quick Ravelry search later and I was off! Happily my brain hadn't forgotten how to crochet.

I love making these little circles, they are so quick and easy to pick up in odd moments. I don't have enough yarn for a blanket( I was so inspired by Snippa's blanket, check it out) but do have enough for a Christmas gift....you'll have to wait and see what it is.

I think crochet is easier than knitting and more portable. If the hook slides away you only have one stitch to find, rather than a dropped row. I am curious though - which one do other people find easier?

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Recently, I have been experiencing a disturbing phenomenom. Here's an example. Our local library is accessed by a lift or stairs. In the lift is a large mirror. I get in the lift and see a harried, middle aged woman staring at me, huge under eye bags, birds nest hair in a straggly ponytail, wearing some rag bag collection of clothes topped off by a sensible waterproof jacket and a harassed expression. "Oh crap" I think with a sinking sense of dread, "Is that really me?" It seems that only five minutes ago I was twenty, an art student, skinny and young. Do I want to go back in time? Well, not really. Some things have improved with age....I like myself more, I think I have gained some acceptance of who I am. I hope I am better dressed, certainly I am less paint spattered. I am definitely a better listener and more considerate of others. I can speak up for myself. I think I am less self-centred. (Don't laugh, I realise the irony of that sentence in a post with many "I"s in it) I definitely have better boots and scarves. I can manage my time and energy better.

Last week I went out to eat in an Italian cafe with my family. There were lots of mirrors. I had thought I looked okay...a bit of concealer, mascara and lippy, I even remembered to use a hairbrush. Then I glimpsed her again in one of the many mirrors...that crazy-haired washed out complexion woman. I also realised my default expression is "worried". Even if I am not worried, I look as if I am! Maybe I need to try grinning like a maniac to counter the worried expression. I have always been irritated by people saying "Don't look so worried" "I am not worried" I want to shout - "that's just my face!"
Does anyone else avoid mirrors in cafes?
﻿﻿What am I going to do? Should I stop caring?

Still hard to photograph my own eye

I have always been plagued by having dark pigment round my eyes, at school I would get told off for wearing eye make up when none was there. Now I have dark lids and big big under eye shadows. I hate them. They are naturally part of me though. They are exacerbated by the relentless early morning schedule of Little I and Rocket Girl. I don't know if there is any wonder cream out there.

Even before children a saleswoman told me that my eye circles were too dark for YSL's touche eclat. So what do I do? How do I convince myself to love my dark eyes? Any recommendations?

I have managed one step - I went and my hair cut and my fringe put back in so I can banish the straggly ponytail look. I think the fringe is a thinking woman's alternative to botox. Seriously. It hides those frown lines so well.

Just to round up this vanity-related post, a work in progress glimpse to prove not all is doom and peering in mirrors here. I have veered right off course from my planned Autumn sewing. Blame it on finding this needlecord in the charity shop, only £2.50 and enough for a skirt for me and a skirt for Little I. Yes people, it's mix n' match mother daughter dressing - the sort of thing my twenty year old self would have scoffed at!